Moss Point Firefighters Train in Heat to Fight Fires

MOSS POINT -- Check out this broadcast from WLOX TV 13 showing Moss Point firefighters training in 90-degree heat to keep themselves in shape to fight fires during the summer months.

Photograph from wlox.com.

Americans Celebrate National Flag Day, Week

Barak Obama, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton during the national anthem at an Iowa campaign stop in 2007.

GULF COAST -- American Legion posts in Harrison County and Gulfport conducted ceremonies today in observation of Flag Day.

Several cities in Jackson County did not conduct observances, which may be held during National Flag Week, June 12 -18.

According to wikipedia.com, one of the longest-running Flag Day parades is held in Quincy, Mass., which begin in 1952, celebrating its 59th year in 2010, making 2011 the 60th year. The 59th Annual Appleton Wisconsin 2009 Flag Day Parade featured the U.S. Navy. The largest Flag Day parade is held in Troy, N.Y., which bases is parade on the Quincy parade and typically draws 50,00 spectators.

A press release from the White House included the presidential proclamation for Flag Day and National Flag Week.

"On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted a flag with 13 stripes and 13 stars to represent our nation, one star for each of our founding colonies. The stars were set upon a blue field, in the words of the Congress's resolution, "representing a new constellation" in the night sky. What was then a fledgling democracy has flourished and expanded, as we constantly strive toward a more perfect Union.

"Through the successes and struggles we have faced the American flag as been ever present. It has flown on our ships and military bases around the world as we continue to defend liberty and democracy abroad. It has been raised in yards and on porches across America on days of celebration, and as a sign of our shared heritage. And it is lowered on days of remembrance to honor fallen service members and public servants: or when tragedy strikes and we join together in mourning. Our flag is the mark of one country, one people, uniting under one banner.

Stony Hill School, in Waubeka, Wis., is site of the first formal observance of Flag Day.

When the American flag soars, so too does our Nation and the ideals it stands for. We remain committed to defending the liberties and freedoms it represents, and we give special thanks to the members of the Armed Forces who wear our flag proudly. On Flag Day, and during National Flag Week, we celebrate the powerful beacon of hope that our flag has become for us all, and for people around the world.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as "Flag Day" and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also requested, by joint resolution approved June 8, 1966, as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President annually issue a proclamaton designating the week in which June 14 occurs as "National Flag Week" and call upon citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2011, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 12, 2011, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during that week,

and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying the flag. I also call up the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth."

BARACK OBAMA

Veteran Rodgers, Family Surprised by WWII Attention

Bilbo Rodgers of Pascagoula (Meet the Heroes)

PASCAGOULA -- Bilbo Rodgers has a second invitation from the Pascagoula Rotary Club to attend their meeting on Wednesday, June 8, at the Grand Magnolia Ballroom.

The invitation is part of the public attention that has been bestowed upon Rodgers, a veteran of World War II, since he and 83 other veterans made the inaugural trip of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight on May 11.

Pascagoula Veteran Recalls D-Day Experience

The Mississippi Press/June 06, 2011

He feels "pretty good" about all the attention, though he and his family have been surprised my his seeming celebrity status now.

"I've done got to be real popular," he said this morning. "They're excited about it. They think it's real good."

Though he didn't know it until the next day, the greeting between his daughter, Julia Holmes, and himself at the Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport, where Gulf Coast residents had gathered to welcome home the Honor Flight veterans, was the front page photograph in The Mississippi Press.

"That flight to Washington really brought it to the light," he said. "I didn't think all of this would come of it."

At the WWII memorial, Rodgers was among three South Mississippi veterans who took part in the laying of a wreath.

Holmes, Rodgers' eldest daughter and child, also is excited about the attention he's received lately, he said.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight

Rodgers said all of the World War II veterans were treated to a number of recognitions by area businesses and community groups before they made the May 11 trip to the nation's capital to tour the WWII monument built in their honor. The veterans also toured memorials for soldiers who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and they were part of a sight tour of the Lincoln Memorial.

"Before I went on the flight Ingalls gave us a big dinner for the World War II veterans," he said.

During April, Beau Rivage casino provided a tribute that included a show. Veterans were allowed to bring another guest, said Rodgers. "I carried Aubrey Williams and another guy from our area."

Petty Officer 1st Class Philomena Roberts

D'IBERVILLE -- Petty officer 1st Class Philomena Roberts was found dead in her home on June 1, 2011.

Media reported that Roberts had a gunshot wound to the chest.

(Update: On June 29, D'Iberville police charged Roberts' husband, Troy Eugene Roberts, with murder in her death. He was being held in jail on an unrelated charge -- a felon in possession of a concealed weapon, reported as a switchblade -- since he reported her death, saying that they'd been out drinking, but he'd taken home before leaving again, and found her dead when he returned. See the June 30, 2011, issue of The Sun Herald.)

According to the newspaper, Philomena Roberts was from Arkansas, had a son, and had been in the Navy for 14 years. The petty officer was a logistics specialist with the Seabee Readiness Group in Gulfport.

She had served on the USS Merimack and USS Nimitz. She also had been stationed in England at the Naval Air Facility Mildenhall and in Virginia at the Center for Combat Learning Site and the Naval Special Warfare Group. Roberts was a member of Little Rock Baptist Church in Gulfport, and a survivor of breast cancer.